Fastener for roofing.



PATENTED JAN.14, 1908.

A. E. ROEVER.

FASTENER FOR ROOFING.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 19. 1906.

.JTZT 2 lit 5 In ten for,

Hu /W QOW AUGUST E. ROEVER, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

FASTENER FOR ROOFING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 14, 1908.

Application filed November 19. 1906. Qerial No. 343.994.

To all whom it may concern:

B e 1t known that 1, AUGUST E. RoEvER, a citizen of the United States,resident of Buffalo, county of Erie, and State of New York, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Fasteners for Roofing, of whichthe following is a specification, the principle of the invention belngherein explained, and the best mode in which I have contemplatedapprlying that principle, so as to distinguish it om other inventions.

My invention relates toimproved means for securing roofing, to theroof-boards, particularly prepared roofing, such as tarred felt, graniteroofing, and the like, which usually comes in long strips made up in theform of rolls. While thus primarily designed for use with roofing ofthis character, it will be obvious that the device in handis capable ofquite general application, wherever the several advantageous featurespresented by such fastener are ap reciated.

Said invention, t en, consists of means hereinafter fully described andparticularly set forth in the claims.

The annexed drawing and the following descri tion set forth in detailcertain means embo ying the invention, such 'disclosed meansconstituting but one of various forms in which the principle of theinvention may be used.

In said annexed drawing: Figure 1 represents in perspective a brokensection of roofing, in connection with which my improved fastener hasbeen utilized -for securing the same to the roof paper; Fig. 2 is atransverse cross section through a section of such roofing, showing inside elevation one of my fasteners in site; Fig. 3 is a perspective viewof one form of my fastener as it appears previous to its application tothe roofing; and Fig. 4 represents, .likevfi'se in erspective, aslightly modifiedform of such astener.

The method practically universally employed for securing preparedroofing material to the roof, as is well known, consists simply intacking down the overlapping edges of such roofing. Washers-are usuallyemployed in connectlon with the nails, or

else nails with broad heads, in order to secure abroad bearin surfaceand to prevent the heads of the nai s from breaking through the roofingmaterial. The only recaution taken to prevent leakage at t e severaloints of attachment, the roofing material eing .obviously punctured, hasbeen to spread over the same a coating of tar or waterproofing material.

The above method of attaching roofing has long been consideredobjectionable, but its use has continued for want of a suitablesubstitute for the nails. Among other objections there may be enumeratedthe fact that the boards of the roof usually shrink more or less afterthe construction of a building, and such shrinkage causes the relativemovement of the nails thereby tearing the material and leaving a spacearound the nail through which water may enter. This defeet isaccentuated by the expansion and contraction to which changes of ternerature subject the roofing material itse the general result being that,in the course of a relatively short time, the roofing has worked looseabout the nails sufficiently to allow the entrance of moisture, with theconsequent very rapid deterioration both of the adjaterial being torn asalready noted, there is a pronounced tendency forthe nail to' actuallyWork entirely loose and dro out of the roofing. Obviously the hole t usleft in such roofing is a fruitful cause of trouble, as any person ofexperience with roofs of this kind can witness.

The device which I propose to utilize in place of nails for securing theroofing material to the roof comprises in its simplest form, Fig. 3,merely a narrow metallic str1 Aformed With anaperture a near one enadapted to allow the passage therethrough of a nail for the purpose ofattaching the strip to the roof boards. The other end of the strip isdoubled over upon itself, the doubled-over portion a terminating shortof the nail-receiving aperture 0 and being provided with atransversely-dis osed prong a this prong is of en stantially tria and isslightly recurved, that is, 1ts oint is inclined towards thedoubled-over on of the fastener. In the modified form (if fastener shownin Fig. 4, no change is made from the construction just descrlbed exceptthat, in place of being formed with an opening for the reception of anail, by means of which the lar form,

fastener is designed to be tacked fast, such under portion of thefastener is formed with an integral downwardly-turned point a. This ointis designed to be utilized in tacking tl e fastener down, thus muchsimplifying the operation and rendering unnecessary the use of any nailswhatever.

In applying the fastener as will be evident om an inspection of Figs. 1and.2, the main portion, referred to as the under portion: in the abovedescription, is nailed down either by means of a nail through opening aor by means of the integral point a where the latter form is used, alongthe upper edge of the undermost of the overlapping sheets 0f roofingmaterial. The u per sheet is then moved into place so as to ave itslower edge clas ed between such under portion and the dou led-overportion a of the fastener. The doubled-over portion a is thereuponhammered down, the transversely-disposed prong a piercing suchuppers-layer of roofing and being clenched upon'fthe under portion, asclearly shown in Fig. 2. The point where such iercing of the upper layertakes place, it is o vious from'the relative lengths of the two portionsof the fastener as above delineated, will be some distance below thepoint of attachment of the fastener, or, in other words, the point wherethe lower sheet of roofing is pierced. Any moisture, hence,

that will percolate through the uncture in the upper sheet, it isobvious, escape between the sheets downwardly without running across orin proximity to the o ening in the lower sheet, The roof boar sunderneath are hence kept absolutely dry. At the same time, both sheetsare very securely held in place, for the upper ed e of the under sheetis nailed down in muc the same fashion as in the old method, while thelower edge of the upper sheet is equally securelyheld down by thefastener which clasps it and, by being clenched in the manner described,makes release of the sheet impossible. Where it becomes necessary tohave two sheets overlap laterally, as only infrequently happens wherethe roofing is horizontally disposed in order to piece out a short sheetof the material, or

as will be almost entirely the case in the use ofvertically dis osedroofing, my improved fastener can stil be used with equally efficaciousresults in securely clenching such roofing in lace while preventing thepassage of water t erethrough. It only becomes necessaryin this use ofthe fastener to dispose the same at a slight downward inclination to thevertical line of the lap, in order that the water may not follow theunder portion of the fastener to the point where the under layer ofroofing is pierced, as it might do if the clip were horizontallydisposed. To innsure the i proper disposition, therefore, of thefastener when utilized in this latter connection, I preferably form thesame not out of a straight metal strip, as in the case of the standardform of fastener as above, but out of one of V form, whereby, upon beingdoubled over, the form A, shown in Fig. 1, results, difiering only fromthe standard form in that the doubled-over edge of the fastener is at anangle with its lateral edges instead of being at right angles thereto,as in the standard form. The method of attachment and the clenching ofthe upper doubled-over ortion is exactly the same in this case as t eform first described.

It will be seen, from the foregoin description, that by the employment 0this type of fastener in place 0' nails or the like, a perfect joint issecured, without sacrificing in the least the permanence with which theroofing .is held down. It is immaterial whether the timbers of the roofshrink or not, or whether, because of shiftin of the roofing sheets withthe alternation of summer heat and winter cold, such sheets be drawnmore or less from about the nail-heads, for these are at all timessecurely covered over with the upper-sheet. At the same time, such uppersheet is just as firmly bound to the lower as though the nail inquestion actually pierced it also. Such fastener has the furtheradvantage of being quite inexpensive. In fact, in material it does notrepresent a much greater outlay than the old-fashioned washer heretoforeused in connection with the nails. Its attachment, furthermore, invo vesthe use of no new tools nor the expenditure of much additional labor,while the results above noted as being obtained by its use 1 clearlycommend its general employment for the purpose stated.

Having thus described In invention in detail, that which I particu arlypoint out and distinctly claim, is

1. A fastener for roofing comprising a metallic strip doubled over uponitself, the doubled-over ortion being provided with a prong adapte to bedriven through the roofmg material to contact with the lower portion ofsaid metallic strip. T

2. A fastener for roofing comprising ametallic strip doubled over uponitself, the

doubled-overcportion being provided with a transversely sposed prongadapted to be driven through the roofing material to contact with thelower portion of said metallic strip.

3. A fastener for roofing comprising a metallic stri formed at one endwith a point adapted to lie driven into the roof boards, such stripbeing doubled over upon itself, the doubled-over portion being shorterthan the other portion and terminating in a prong adapted to be driventhrough the roofing material to contact with the lower portion of saidmetallic stri 4. The combmation with overlapping sheets of roofing; of afastener therefor comprising a metallic strip secured to the under sheetand doubled over upon itself so as to clas the edge of the upper sheet,such dou led-over portion of the strip being rovided with a trian ularprong dispose interiorly of its latera edges and adapted to be driventhrough such upper sheet and to contact with the lower portion of saidmetallic strip.

5. The combination with overlapping sheets of roofing; of a fastenertherefor comprising a metallic strip secured to the under sheet anddoubled over upon itself so as to clas the edge of the upper sheet, suchdou led-over portion of the strip being rovided with a transverselydisposed, shghtl recurved prong adapted to be'driven throu such uppersheet to contact with and is clenched upon the lower portion of suchstrip.

6. The combination with overlapping sheets of roofing; of a fastenertherefor com-.

prising a metallic strip formed at one end with a point adapted to bedriven through provided, short of t the underv sheet and. doubled overupon itself so as to clas the edge of the upper sheet, such double -overportion of the strip being e point of attachment of the under portion ofsuch strip, with a pron disposed lnteriorly of the lateral edges 0 suchdoubled-over portion and adapted to be driven through such upper sheetand contact with such lower portion of the metallic strip. 7. Thecombination with overlapping sheets of roofing; of a fastener thereforcomprising a metal ic strip secured to the under sheet and doubled overupon itself so as to clas the edge of the upper sheet, such dou led-overortion being provided with a transversely disposed prong adapted to bedriven through such upper sheet to contact with and be clenched uponsuch lower portion. Signed by me, this 10th day of November,

D. T. DAVIES, JNo. F. QBERLIN.

